Week 1 is officially in the rearview mirror as the Atlanta Falcons gear up for their Week 2 matchup against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Falcons are the road underdogs this week as they face the reigning Super Bowl champs who are coming off a close victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
So, who will take the field for Atlanta against a stingy Tampa offense?
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Falcons Depth Chart vs. Buccaneers
Atlanta revealed their official Week 2 depth chart vs. the Bucs on Tuesday:
Offense
QB: Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen, Feleipe Franks
RB: Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, Wayne Gallman
WR: Calvin Ridley, Tajae Sharpe or Christian Blake
WR: Russell Gage, Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby
TE: Kyle Pitts, Lee Smith
TE: Hayden Hurst, Keith Smith, Parker Hesse
LT: Jake Matthews, Jason Spriggs
LG: Jalen Mayfield, Drew Dalman, Colby Gossett
C: Matt Hennessy, Drew Dalman
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Drew Dalman
RT: Kaleb McGary, Jason Spriggs
Defense
DL: Grady Jarrett, Marlon Davidson
DL: Tyeler Davison, Ta’Quon Graham
DL: Jonathan Bullard, John Cominsky
OLB: Steven Means, Brandon Copeland or Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
LB: Deion Jones, Mykal Walker
LB: Foyesade Oluokun, Dorian Etheridge
OLB: Dante Fowler Jr., Adetokunbo Ogundeji
CB: A.J. Terrell, T.J. Green, Darren Hall or Avery Williams
CB: Fabian Moreau, Isaiah Oliver
S: Erik Harris, Jaylinn Hawkins
S: Duron Harmon, Richie Grant
Special Teams
K: Younghoe Koo
P: Cameron Nizialek
LS: Josh Harris
H: Cameron Nizialek
PR: Avery Williams
KOR: Cordarrelle Patterson
Jalen Mayfield Gets Another Shot
What stands out here is that Arthur Smith is giving rookie left guard Jalen Mayfield a chance to redeem himself. Then again, the Falcons don’t really have any other options at the moment.
Mayfield, who was a third-round draft pick from Michigan, was next in line after Josh Andrews broke his hand and landed on injured reserve on Sept. 1. And before that, expected 2021 left guard, Matt Gono, suffered an injury and was added to the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and was last seen wearing a neck brace.
“It will be a little bit before we get there on Matt,” Smith said after the loss, via The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
Last Sunday, Mayfield was lined up opposite Eagles’ 300-pound defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. The rookie had two false starts and Hargrave ended the day with two of the three sacks on Matt Ryan.
Smith said he has “all the faith in the world” in Mayfield––eventually––but is considering all of his options at left guard.
“I wouldn’t say that it got too big for him, he’s certainly not going to be pleased with his performance,” Smith said. “He knows what the issues are. He’s a tough-minded guy.”
Mayfield is confident he can do better.
“I have to do everything better,” Mayfield said of his poor performance. “There’s not one thing in my game that’s fully complete. I have to improve on everything that I do.”
Next in line to Mayfield is another rookie in Drew Dalman who is also featured as a backup to center Matt Hennessey and right guard Chris Lindstrom.
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Falcons Announce Depth Chart vs. Buccaneers